Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is joining the crowded field of Democrats running for governor of California next year.
“California is at a crossroads,’’ Becerra said in a statement Wednesday announcing his run. “From housing to healthcare, childcare to college, working families are facing an affordability crisis. The California Dream is slipping away. I’m running for Governor to fight for that dream, to build a stronger, affordable California for everyone, and to take on bullies who get in our way.”
Becerra, a former member of Congress who also served as California’s attorney general, is the latest high-profile Democrat to launch a bid to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Former Rep. Katie Porter announced her candidacy last month, and other Democrats in the race include Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former state Controller Betty Yee, former state legislative leader Toni Atkins and former timeshare mogul Stephen Cloobeck.
But Democrats are largely waiting to see if former Vice President Kamala Harris will enter the race to lead the state where she once served as attorney general and U.S. senator. Harris is expected to make a decision by the end of the summer.
Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants, was first elected to the House in 1992 and served for more than two decades, rising to become the No. 3 Democrat in the chamber as caucus chair and also leading the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He left in 2017 after Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to succeed Harris as state attorney general following her election to the Senate.
He easily won election to a full term the following year but left in 2021 to lead the Department of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden, something he highlighted in his campaign announcement.
“I stood up to Big Pharma, helped tackle the COVID crisis, and expanded healthcare coverage to millions. I’ve never backed down from a fight in defense of working families, and I’m not about to start now,” he said.
Becerra, like many of his predecessors, used his bully pulpit as HHS secretary to tout Biden’s health care agenda, touring throughout the United States. He implemented a law requiring Medicare to negotiate the price of some high-cost drugs and oversaw increases in enrollment in the individual health care market. But Becerra faced criticism from Republicans for his department’s handling of unaccompanied immigrant minors, which is the responsibility of HHS.
Becerra’s announcement Wednesday also cited his willingness to do battle with President Donald Trump. He said that, as California attorney general, he sued the Republican president more than 120 times, including leading a coalition of states in successfully defending the 2010 health care law in a high-profile case before the Supreme Court.
“Whether defending workers against wage theft or looking out for families in need of a hospital for their kids, standing up for DREAMers or fighting for clean air and water, I’ve always been driven by the California values instilled in me by my parents – a clerical and construction worker, both immigrants to America – who had the chance to earn their dream,” Becerra said in his statement.
Jessie Hellmann contributed to this report.
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